Corona, Conspiracy, and Christians

Corona, Conspiracy, and Christians

I love a good conspiracy theory. I find them fun to be honest. My favorite was the pseudo-history “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” (a brief synopsis here) that inspired the Dan Brown novel The DaVinci Code, which I found to also be an entertaining work of fiction. The key word here is fiction. Unfortunately, there is an abundance of fiction, much of it being spread by Christians, about the Corona Virus, and based on that, who knows what else. Here is the reality. Doing so is a sin. Proverbs 12:22 tells us “Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but the workers of the truth are his delight.”(Jubilee translation) When you share something that is verifiable as being false, and do so without checking the facts, you are in danger of crossing that line. When you share conspiracy theories to pass off as truth, you not only cross the line, but are well on the other side of it. It’s a sin. The Sermon Bible provides some interesting thoughts on this verse.“I. To tell lies is pitiful and mean. Nobody who is honourable and high-minded will stoop to do it. Even when we suffer for telling the truth, it is far better to have the courage to stick to it.II. Lying is a hateful thing, because it has brought so much misery into the world. The safety and happiness of God’s children depend on their telling the truth.III. Lying is wicked. Wrong-doing consists in disobeying God’s holy laws, and since He so positively bids us tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, we commit sin every time that we fail to do it.IV. Another reason why lying should be abhorred is because it is dangerous. Even when God does not punish liars in this world, they will not escape in the next. Hear what the Bible says about it: “All liars have their portion in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Rev_21:8).”

That is some serious stuff. One of the more popular memes making the rounds is one which suggests that Walmart, Kroger, Amazon, etc. have had no reported employee deaths, so this was an attempt to destroy small businesses. This is verifiable as false. A Walmart in Colorado is just one of many examples. I get it. I worry for small business and the economic impact of this too, but it is not a conspiracy. I promise. This has been shared by more than one Christian in my friends list.

Bill Gates did not create the Corona virus. (here) There is not a secret vaccine that is used in cattle, but kept from us (here) Donald Trump is not profiting from drugs tested from treatment of the virus. (here) Corona beer sales did not go down because of people thinking it spread the virus. (here) A Chinese intel. officer did not reveal the awful truth of the virus being developed in a lab as a biological weapon. (here) The Lab in Wuhan China does not have a logo that is mysteriously similar to The Umbrella corporation from the Resident Evil franchise of games, movies, etc. (here) No, there is not a disease every election year. (here) No, George Soros does not own the lab that developed COVID-19. (here) The CDC did not lower COVID death totals. (here) The virus is not prevented by hair dryers, keeping your throat moist, or gargling with vinegar and salt water. Lemons and hot water won’t stop it either. Bananas are also not the cure, nor is vitamin C. Holding your breath is not a simple self test at home. And finally, my favorite, the virus did not come from unprotected sex with farm animals, nor will unprotected sex with farm animals increase your risk of the virus. (Do NOT have sex with any animal for a whole host of other medical and ethical reasons). All these posted by Christians I am friends with online as truthful information. Yes, including sex with animals.

There is a lot of good information out there. There is a lot of information that has been proven wrong as we have learned more. Then there is the information that sounds like it is written by Dan Brown. (Perhaps that will be my contribution to the conspiracy game. This is all a convoluted plan by Dan Brown to do a real life experiment as inspiration for his next book.) As Christians it is not only vital for the world that we are truthful in all things, but vital for us as well. We are the representation on Earth of the Holy Trinity to everyone that we meet. When we spread lies, the world knows us as liars. When we spread conspiracy theories, the world knows us as fools, but not the good, holy kind of fool. Truth is a part of the nature of God. Christ says that He is the truth. When we spread lies, we damage the witness of not only ourselves, but of all the faithful past, and present. It is sin, and as such, separates us from God. It is vital that we be truthful in our words, our deeds, and our thoughts…and even our social media.

Having said all of this, if you are going to spread a conspiracy theory, let’s at least make them something that we all can laugh at. For example, COVID has been around for decades. Axel Rose, being a rebellious rock and roller with a taste for the esoteric, came across this information and tried to prepare us for the pandemic. As the front man for LA Guns he performed such songs as “Nothing Better To Do”, which warns of the lock downs, “Disbelief” telling us there would be virus deniers, and most importantly “Next Generation” which was released in 1996. The COVID 19 pandemic started in 2019, 23 years later. A generation was considered to be 20 years by ancient cultures, whose esoteric wisdom Axel Rose used to gain the foreknowledge of the coming pandemic. He tried to warn us in Guns and Roses starting with their first released song which began “Welcome to the jungle, we’ve got fun and gamesWe got everything you want honey, we know the namesWe are the people that can find whatever you may needIf you got the money, honey we got your disease” Which obviously warns us of the coming pandemic but also the financial devastation it will cause, and all orchestrated by those in power. With songs like “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” warning of the deaths, “14 Years” telling us how long quarantine will feel like, “Chineese Democracy” to tell us the origins of the virus, “Down on The Farm” telling us it would be an animal virus, “IRS” letting us know how stimulus would be calculated, “November Rain” warning of a fall resurgence, and “Scrapped” which tells us our plans are done. If you needed more proof, the recent Twitter spat between Axel Rose and Steven Mnuchin, the treasury Secretary, one of the wealthy elite. (here) There is my entry into the fray. The difference is that I hope you laugh at mine as the tongue in cheek joke that it is and critically examine what is out there so that you are spreading truth as God would have us do as Christians and not perpetuating lies and The Prince of Lies desires.